Hello again!
It’s Friday (my day off) and I’m here once again sharing stuff and picking the collective brain of the community. Thank you all for being awesome and providing a space where this can happen. I’m sorry if this wall of text is unsettling or boring for some, but I confess, it was EXTREMELY hard for me to think of a title that would be engaging and really show what I’d like to talk about and explain this in few words - I’m not even close of being that good with the English language - so, please, bear with me as I explain this week’s post. Also, here’s this post’s influences: (RPG) Undermountain, Barrowmaze, Ravenloft; (RPG, smaller, independent/lesser known titles) Hubris, Spire; (board games / introductory RPG) Labyrinth Adventure Game; (video games) Castlevania (and pretty much all Metroidvanias), Tomb Raider (survivor series).
I’m a huge fan of Ravenloft. Not surprisingly, maybe, I loved the PDM’s vide on on how to run Ravenloft in one night, where he gives tips and hints on how to condense such a (possibly) long adventure and I immediately wanted to do it in ICRPG. So, my first draft was simply a collection of notes turning the I6 Module into an adventure in the ICRPG format (GM’s bullets, Moments, Details, Mechanics… you know the drill). Then I realized I had a TEMPLATE for a very specific kind of adventure there, one that I’d like to share and also get some feedback from the community, to expand and transform.
So, let’s do it. What I’ll write here is a very short summary of what’s much more detailed in this online document. You can read more there and make any suggestions you’d like.
ESSENCIAL IDEA:
The Heroes need to explore the Dungeon. The adventure should have two parts: (1) The Town; and (2) The Dungeon. In the first part, the Heroes explore the story and region around the Dungeon to gather allies, information, and resources to make their foray into the Dungeon easier. In the second part, they go inside the Dungeon proper. An important twist is that upon reaching the Dungeon, they now have only a limited amount of time to complete their objective.
SPECIAL RULES/MECHANICS - HOW THIS STUFF ACTUALLY WORKS
The Time Limit. Starting when the Heroes reach the Dungeon, they now have only a limited amount of time to complete their objective. When the Heroes need to take a Turn in the time frame of Hours (such as repair gear or recover Hearts), they lose one Hour. If the clock runs out, they fail.
Progress #. Each area of the Dungeon has a number representing Progress. The Heroes start at a number based on their actions in Town.
The Progress Roll and Challenges. The adventure really starts now, with each area having a Challenge (an area or room with an exploration, role-playing, or combat encounter). When the Challenge is resolved somehow, the Heroes can collect whatever Rewards are due and also make a Progress Roll (typically with 1D6, but the GM can change it to 1D4 if there are very few rooms planned for the Dungeon). The result will bring you to the next Challenge.
Example: The Heroes actions in Town determined they start at Challenge #02. The GM planned a short combat encounter, which they win. The Players now roll 1D6 and get a 3, moving to Challenge #05 of the GM’s list, an exploration/puzzle encounter.
Getting Stuck and Backtracking. If the Heroes are stuck in a Challenge, go back to the area of the previous Challenge and roll again, to find out where they are now. The Heroes can only move forward if they solve one of the Challenges. Once a new Challenge is solved, update your Progress.
Example: The puzzle of Challenge #05 proves too difficult, so the Heroes decide to backtrack. From their original Progress (#02) they roll 1D6 again, getting a 1 and moving to Challenge #03, a role-playing encounter that goes very well. They solve it and mark 3 as their current Progress. Now they roll 1D6 again to move and get a 6, moving to Challenge #09. This way they bypassed the Challenge #05 that they were unable to resolve.
Consequences. Each Challenge should reward the Heroes as usual and also with a Progress Roll. Sometimes, the only reward for a Challenge is a Progress Roll and it’s also possible to gain a Progress Roll even if they are defeated by the Challenge. However these situations will have Consequences determined by the GM.
Example: Challenge #09 is an exploration encounter, a trapped room with sleeping gas. Unfortunately, the Heroes fall for this trap. The GM checks the notes for the Challenge and determines they get robbed in their sleep by minor inhabitants of the Dungeon (losing 1-3 pieces of Loot each) and lose 1 Hour…
Also, if they backtrack without trying to solve the Challenge to the best of their ability usually costs one Hour.
Essential Encounters. Some encounters are labeled “essential”, meaning that they will always happen when Progression reaches certain thresholds. These are usually story-driven encounters that need to happen so the story can continue and make sense. After an Essential Encounter happens, the game continues from the normal Progression point rolled.
Example: The GM adds an Essential Encounter when Progression reaches 10, and the Players roll a 3 when they have successfully completed Challenge #9 (meaning they should move to Challenge #12). The Essential Encounter happens and after that the Players continue from Challenge #12.
THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESSION
By now you must have realized two things: one, no one wants to pre-write a hundred encounters or rooms; and two, you don’t need to do it to make the Dungeon replayable with these rules. Ideas:
Published Megadungeons. The system above can work pretty well with famous published megadungeons such as Barrowmaze or Undermountain, where you already have all the encounters. Simply convert and number them, and game on.
The Illusion of Progression. The GM doesn’t have tens of encounters; the Progression roll always leads the Heroes to the next planned encounter. Still keeps the replayability aspect of the Dungeon, since the GM can prepare new encounters every time the Heroes go back in.
Those are the rules. Here’s an example.
FULL EXAMPLE
THE LORD OF NIGHT
The Town. There’s a Village near the Dungeon, the last place where the living dwell in this region. If the Heroes decide to help the villagers with their problems they will both increase their morale and gather important resources to help. Examples include helping victims of the horrors that live in the Dungeon (both foreshadowing what the Heroes will face and what could happen to them at the same time), saving a captured or ensorcelled villager, or defending the town from an advanced attack from the monsters who live at the Dungeon.
Town Benefits: Helping the people from the Village (village people?) yields some important Loot. For each of the suggestions used, the Progress number increases by one immediately when the Heroes enter the Dungeon. Also give the players one of these rewards:
Cross. A holy symbol that can be used as a weapon against evil creatures with a CHA Check to deal Magic Effort damage. An undead also loses the next Turn writhing in pain.
Magic Hourglass. It can be used once per encounter to pause a Timer (GM Timer or Dying Timer) for a Round, or break it to regain one Hour.
Shortcut Map. Roll 1D6+6 for one Progress Roll of your choice. Works once.
The Dungeon. The Dungeon is a sprawling castle on the hill, inhabited by all manner of horror creatures and ruled by a primordial vampire, who uses it to breed an army of horrors to attack the countryside. Fill it with everything you can think of from horror movies: skeletons, zombies, werewolves, a flesh golem creature, vampire spawn, mythical monsters, etc. Are the Heroes monster hunters trying to protect the world or simple treasure seekers?
The Time Limit. Upon entering the Dungeon the Heroes discover the vampire lord has amassed an incredible amount of power and minions and is now performing a ritual that will grant him complete victory. The sun has set and now they have until sunrise to stop or destroy the vampire lord, or the monster will banish the sun forever!
A Note to GMs About Player Trickery: In the types of scenarios as the one described above, the Heroes (wisely and most certainly) will try to attack the castle during the day, especially if they are rogue types instead of more heroic adventurers. They will try to stock up on garlic, crosses, and silver. Let them do it! Don’t punish good thinking, as that’s the same you or I would certainly do, having our knowledge of old monster movie flicks. In this case, GM, you simply run a short and sweet standard adventure with three to five easy or average difficulty rooms, lots of monsters who can be easily destroyed (make then 1-HP minions), and an average “boss fight” at the end against the “vampire lord”. The Heroes defeat the vampire lord, and leave the castle at sundown, happy and full of riches and some sweet Loot, maybe even a Milestone.
That’s when you describe the moon coming out and the eclipse that bathes the land in a red, sick, bloody light, the castle being disconnected from the rest of the plane, and the monotonous and constant words of the ritual echoing from everywhere. The Heroes realize the “vampire lord” they destroyed was just a spawn (further weakened for being faced during the day), all the real monsters are only now coming out, and that they are now trapped. The ritual and its objective can be easily discovered (books, runes, an allied NPC, or even a speech made by the vampire spawn they killed - up the horror factor by making the creature’s severed head talk to them and explain everything). Start the 12-Hour Time Limit, wrap the game up at the cliffhanger, see you next week.
Finally, if you’re still with me, let me say… “The Dungeon” sounds like the standard set up for a Fantasy setting, but it’s not necessarily so. The adventure local itself can take many different forms, according to the needs of the campaign and even be tailored for other genres. Here’s one complete idea with obvious influences (there are - or there will be - other similar examples in the online document linked above).
Thanks for reading… Hope you guys find something fun / useful here. Now I’m going to write 20 rooms and make the premise above a proper adventure.
Happy gaming!
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